God on the Brain
Rudi Affolter and Gwen Tighe have both experienced strong religious visions. He is an atheist; she a Christian. He thought he had died; she thought she had given birth to Jesus. Both have temporal lobe epilepsy.
Like other forms of epilepsy, the condition causes fitting but it is also associated with religious hallucinations. Research into why people like Rudi and Gwen saw what they did has opened up a whole field of brain science: neurotheology.
The connection between the temporal lobes of the brain and religious feeling has led one Canadian scientist to try stimulating them. (They are near your ears.) 80% of Dr Michael Persinger's experimental subjects report that an artificial magnetic field focused on those brain areas gives them a feeling of not being alone. Some of them describe it as a religious sensation.
His work raises the prospect that we are programmed to believe in god, that faith is a mental ability humans have developed or been given. And temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) could help unlock the mystery. (Excerpt from bbc.co.uk.)
However, in the case of Dr Dawkins it may be because of skull thickness.
Definitively,, Your're lookig for the car keys in the wrong place. Searching for the meaning of life, God, etc call for deeper levels of bran resources . Religious people may be more "willing" to go deeper into the rabbit hole than those none-religious individuals.
I personally found this documentary informative and worth doing. Other experiments have been done some time ago on the thickness of peoples skulls and that people with thicker skulls dont allow electromagnetic waves to get through as much as those with thinner skulls, the signals dont get through. There have also been experiments about the effects on the human body yrs ago to do with electromagnetic waves (fields,ley lines etc)and appliances ,tv,computers etc and the do effect the human body.In 1974 it was proven the exstinct of the biophoton field that surrounds your body.The Word GOD is just that ,it can mean to you whatever you want to perceive it to be.How about Generations of Order and Disorder.In 2008 in Southampton England they did experiments on communication by one human being in a room with a computer and another human being in another room with a computer and used the electromagnetic wave field to connect, communicate via their brains to the extent of one getting the other to do things unvoluntarily apparently ,look it up.To me everything i read,watch ,hear,feel is just information some will be more truthful than others. The human body will do its best to fix itself depending on the information it has or you have, humans even now dont have that info apparently ,that could be a reason for the words (in hindsight). Information is in our cells apparently we are created by our parents genetic information which is then mixed together by the sperm and egg and out you pop, a new computer system of sorts ,as humans do use computers,books,voice recordings etc as our extened memory ,thoughts and dare i say it brain. And of course my parents were created by their parents etc Now the planet was here first ,before humans that is apparently and through its chemicals and compounds and those coming in from out side of it from space getting through its atmosphere etc many many many many other organisms have been created to balance each other out, you know one species feeding off another in order to survive. Strangely enough some plants do that e.g. a tree gets light from the sun water from the clouds and nutrients from its decaying leaves . The lessons in human history have taught weather religious or not , do not bit the hand that feeds you, the water you drink the food you eat the air you breathe etc it does not mean the water companies,gas electricity etc that is something people have created for whatever reasons.
Interesting in that this and subsequent research for such a "God Spot" implies religious experiences and the concept of the soul is within the brain, further proof that manifestations of such beliefs are physical. This research applies to everyone, not just people with epilepsy. The symptoms appear to be exacerbated in certain epileptic or in people like Kim Davis.
Amazing documentary, thank you scientists
That scientist claims that Richard Dawkins did not have the visions because of his low sensitivity in the temporal lobe. He fails to see the big picture here. Beliefs shape brain matter. Richard's non belief is the cause of this low sensitivity.
This documentary seems to take a narrow view of religion and mysticism. I find it amusing how documentaries like this always seem to negate to mention the role drugs and endogenous chemicals in producing these experiences. A number of the worlds religions have there roots firmly based in the taking of natural occurring entheogenic chemicals which produce profound mystical states of being (eg. DMT, psilocybin, mescaline). The taboo placed on these substances by religious and political authorities seems to have precluded people in even exploring these connections. Interestingly more recent research on psilocybin in particular have revealed that these substances reduce blood flow to the same areas of the brain as deep mediation or prayer. I also think its is funny how people like try and create a duality between genuine and non-genuine mystical states. How did the first mystic know his experiences where genuine? This seems to be just another method for religious authorities to institute control and facilitate the idea that they have the true mystical knowledge (or true word of god) thus belittling and demeaning others experiences and divine truth as as merely mental illness or some other type of disorder. They must do this to place themselves as an religious expert just as a psychiatrist defines themselves as an expert of how "normal" people should think and feel. No theory of mind or religion will ever be complete until they can account for how and why entheogenic substances produce these profound states. Another question is why do these substances occur so abundantly in nature and where they an evolutionary catapult that accelerated the development of the mystical and creative powers of the human mind...?
Where do we get ideas for inventions and machines able to travel distances faster than the body can move or send and receive images and sound through what are to our senses invisible wavelengths? The answer is so simple...our brains. As we shift our mind sets we tune to variables within and around ourselves, thus we evolve.
Temporal lobe epilepsy is what I have, sometimes mistaken for pseudo-seizures but also I have visions of aura and sometimes of terror.. I cant wait to watch
worse documentaries ever seen
Achems_Razor are you an Anti-Theist?
Yes both are opinions but yours is correct, hmmm. Just like people to shove beliefs and opinions down peoples throats. As for what i believe, im afraid its no ones business but my own. I should add, if someone chooses to believe something they have the free will to do so without affliction from people but on the same token if that person forces and imposes their belief on anyone or uses it for their own gain(monetary or otherwise) they should be dealt with harshly. Anyway you twist it you still believe something, don't put yourself in a category, just accept you are human.
Atheism is a belief just as someone who believes in a creator, they both are beliefs, this is a fact! Both have not been debunked and people wait on science to tell them the truth and in the process you forget you are human. Believe as you will it won't change the fact that we are all human beings living on earth. I would say stop bashing god and stop bashing atheism, they are both belief systems. What I would bash is doctrines!
The religious experience may be derived from the function that has evolved in the human brain to make us realize the importance of our society for our survival and the need to commune with what is greater than us individually. To join an entity that is beyond us personally, which is society and the people to whom we owe everything. This makes sense in a scientific perspective and turns religion in a by-product and misinterpretation of this normal brain function. The same way optical illusions are a by-product and misinterpretation of natural brain and eye functions. But of course, religious people are probably not objective and rational enough to realize it.
More crap about the mental illness of those who believe in God. Better check out Noam Chomsky's lecture about the Ghost in the Machine on Youtube. BTW, some people who believe in God are quite sane and actually do a lot to make the world a better.
This sounds real interesting!
The thought that religious belief may be a bi-product of evolution really just blows my mind. She goes on to say that religious belief, or faith may be a quirk of nature. I believe that nature or truth.... is God
michael H you are totally wrong ..its obvious that you didnt know God nor you had any personal relationship with Him :) so therefore you decided to reject Him ..which is really sad ..i will pray that the Father will open your eyes to His truth and ways
I did believe in god and jesus and all that mumbo jumbo at one point in my life where i was young..
After 20 long years of hearing god this god that, jesus this mary that..
I actually got sick of hearing all this cr*p.. I actually felt a little stupid and ignorant thinking those stories made up by some m*ron hundreds of years ago to be true. even if there is a god/ jesus and s**t.. there's still starvation and countless of pointless deaths..
if there is an all powerful and all mighty god.
then tell me, you bible believers. why the **** didnt god make this planet and the people on it a better place?
maybe it's because no matter how perfect that mofo is.. he can't get anything right.
to all you god believers.. keep thinking there is this higher power..
when the day comes for you to suffer in pain and agony.. please call for him.
see what he'll do for you. cause in the end.. he won't do s**t for you.
PEACE
and FOOD and WARMTH TO ALL.
the answer of the first question of the beginning of this documentary is yes.
human design to believe God. now you see when scientist will find it out. i know it for sure. there was a book i read that been written 900 years ago, the book called perfect human, a great book, written by a Persian Sufi, he strongly mention that this sense been installed inside human FETRAT or nature.
Ah, so religion is all just one big epileptic fit.. And here I thought it was the mushrooms!
people's experiences with something supreme is simply a simulation of what it would be like if you talked walked etc with a supreme being yes the emotions are real but it is to something simulated by our brains.
to the believers when you pray you realize that you often pray for things that without prayer would actually would happen anyway prayer is just as beneficial as prayer to a remote control.
religion myths folklores etc are things used to explain the non explained but science is explaning things each in every day that in the time of the bible was made that deemed a mystery.
nobody wants to believe once you die that is it but believing in stories that logically dont make no sense but unfortunatly religion will never die when one religion is proven incorrect a new one fit for that generation and time will be created and if you are comfortable believing in a religion just like so many that stamp you gng to a very bad place if you dont believe then i feel sorry for you,
Good doc. Great to hear more on this subject and curiouser & curiouser to watch where it may lead. My thoughts - perhaps the 'religious' will make note that people from all 'faiths' and spiritual practice have these similar Experiences ... might be obvious then that 'one true' religion is an idea that might be Wrong? (Maybe in future we will be hailing this new science of Neuro-Theology as the Peace Maker) - Also wonder if people will be lining up to buy their own 'God Helmet' or looking for antidote for the electric magnetic disturbances (?) that stimulate the experience "where is your clock radio"? HA :)
I am GOD the same way that the drop is the ocean. We are afraid to say I am GOD because our ego fears the opinion we would receive from others from professing those words. The day we realize our potential fully, the day we believed in our own self with faith we will be able to do miracles. Most of us would say that we have done what felt like a miracle, most of us more than once....but we call it coincidence or chance event. God is spread among us in drops, God needs all of us to live everything that is and we need every drop still alive to reunite the true essence of God that is in all of us.
If Jesus lived or if he was the subject of the best novel ever written by many writers...one thing that was particular about him is that he wasn't afraid to say i am the son of GOD, God talks through me. AZ
It is pretty obvious that it is a case of man made god than the other way round.
I am happy to be devoid of any mysticism or religious inclinations. To me there simply is not enough evidence to convince me there is a god or supernatural being.
I also read someone's comment stating that it is more difficult to be a non believer than otherwise; I guess it is as it takes more effort to learn, investigate, collect data, analyze it and derive conclusions from it. Why go to all that effort when a little book written ~2000 years ago would do. Well, those who so chose to act are welcome to drown in the ignorance of their beliefs. I prefer to make the effort of finding out about the natural world, trying to get as close to the truth as possible by the only method that works. I am, of course, referring to the scientific method. I refuse to be fooled into believing the kind of utter rubbish any 'holy' book claims to be the truth. They explain precisely nothing. Not even why they are riddled with contradictions and nonsensical stuff, such as flying, talking snakes. What a load of bollocks that is.